Home Prices Increase in June, Plateau Expected in 4Q

July 25, 2011 (Jeff Alan)

Home prices and inventory increased in June according to Altos Research, with leading market indicators showing a positive trend through at least the end of September and the possibility that prices may plateau in the fourth quarter of 2011.

List prices from homes in the 26 cities surveyed by Altos reported a modest increase in list prices of 1.37 percent in June over May and an increase in inventory of 0.35 percent.

Over the three month period from April to June, listing prices have increased 2.31 percent and inventory has increased by 3.52 percent.

The national index reports that the median price for a home was $450,358 in June, up from $444,273 in May. The biggest gainers in price were Detroit (2.78%), San Francisco (2.34%), and Washington D.C. (2.28%).

Altos Research’s weekly sample (7 day) for June shows a slight flattening of home prices which may indicate the end of the seasonal spike in prices and could be the first indication of the coming autumn housing market.

The only city to report a month-over-month price decrease was Las Vegas, which recorded a decline of 0.86 percent from May to June. Over the three month period from April to June, only Las Vegas (-1.61%) and New York (-2.20%) reported price declines.

Housing supply increased in 12 of the 26 markets with the largest increase in housing inventory reported in Boston (5.60%), Minneapolis (3.03%), and San Diego (2.25%), while the largest decline in housing inventory occurred in Phoenix (-7.93%), San Francisco (-5.01%), and Atlanta (-4.55%).